Kaleidoscopic top.



E. B. T. SPENCER. I KALEIDOSGOPIU'TOP. APPLICATION rum) MAY 11, 1910.

' Patented Febj14, 1911.

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EDWARD B. T. SPENCER, OF ROME, ITALY.

KALEIDOSCOPIC TOP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1d, 1911.

Application filed May 11, 1910. Serial No. 560,693.

T 0 all 107mm it may concern:

Be it known that I, Enwano B. T. SPEN- onn, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Rome, Italy, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Kaleidoscopic Tops, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to tops, and particularly to tops of the classknown as kaleidoscopic, in which variegated color effects are producedby the rotation of the top.

Herctofore tops have invariably been provided with a pivot 01' spinningpoint which forms a constant support for the body of the top during itsrotation and preserves a constant axis of rotation. Since the spinningpoint of tops as heretofore made always lay in the axis of rotation ofthe top, the fact that the axis of rotation was constant limited thevariety of color effects which could be secured without the use ofseparate or sup plemental devices, such as colored disks, to secureadditional kaleidoscopic effects. it-hout using such supplementaldevices the various effects that could be obtained with any given topwere limited to those due to change in the speed of its rotation.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a top provided with means bywhich it may be spun in which a great variety of kaleido scopic effectsmay be secured without the use of separate devices for the purpose, andthis I accomplish by employing a globular top which may be suitablycolored and is provided with means for causing it to rotate. Thedistinguishing feature of my improved top, however, is the fact that itis not provided with a pivot or other projecting spinning point, and hasmeans for engaging a spinning device contained within a smooth globularbody, any part of which may serve as a point of support as occasion mayarise. Thus the axis of rotation of the top is capable of change underthe influence of unequal friction between the top and the surface onwhich it rests, the result being that an almost unlimited variety ofkaleidoscopic changes occur as the top spins.

In the accompanying drawings, in which I have illustrated my improvedtop provided with a simple form of spinning device,--Figure 1 is anelevation of the top; 2 is a vertical section thereof; and Fig. 3 is anelevation of the spinning device which I prefer to employ.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the top has a globularbody a preferably painted in different colors as indicated in F 1. Thebody a is hollow, as shown in Fig. 2, and is preferably made of twohemispheres suitably secured together. The body is provided with afixedly-secured stem or shaft 6 which is braced by a disk 0. One end ofthe stem Z) is secured to the body 0, as shown at (Z, while the otherend projects into a circular opening 0 in the shell or body, as bestshown in Fig. 2. Near the latter end of the stem 2) it is provided witha laterallyprojeeting pin 7', as shown.

9 indicates the spinning device, which is of the type commonly employedfor spinning tops, said spinning device being provided with a ratchetsleeve 7r adapted to fit upon the stem Z) and engage the pin f forwinding up the spring contained in the spinning device g. This device isshown and described in Letters Patent of the United States No. 45,816.dated January 10, 1865, and is not claimed herein. While I have shownand described it as a convenient means for spinning my improved top, anyother device suitable for the purpose may be employed.

In spinning the top the spinning device is applied to the upper end ofthe stem I) through the opening 6, and when wound and released it causesthe top to spin. The top first rotates upon an axis which is coincidentwith the stem Z), but owing to the unequal friction of the body of thetop with the surface on which it rests its axis of rotation graduallychanges, producing a great variety of kaleidoscopic effects.

So far as I am aware, I am the first in the art to provide a top of thischaracter in which the top equipped with means for connection with aspinning device is provided with no spinning point or pivot, so that itis capable of changing its axis of rotation as circumstances maydetermine, and my invention, therefore, is generic in character, and theclaims hereinafter made are. to be construed accordingly.

That which I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is,-

1. A top, comprising a globular body containing means by which a rotarymotion may be imparted to said body, the outer surface of said bodyhaving no projecting pivot to determine its axis of rotation.

2. A top, comprising a globular body having a smooth outer surface, andmeans With- I ular body having portions of its surface difin said bodyby which a rotary motion may i ferently colored and provided on theinside be imparted thereto.

3. A kaleidoscopic top, comprising a glob- 5 ular body having portionsof its surface differently colored and having no projecting pivot todetermine its axis of rotation, and a stem secured Within said body andadapted to cooperate with external means for ini- 10 tinting rotation ofthe top.

4. A kaleidoscopic top, comprising a glob- With means whereby axialrotation thereof may be initiated, said body having no pro- 15 jectingpivot, so that the axis of rotation is capable of changing as the toprotates. V

EDWARD B. T. SPENCER;

lVitnesses CHAPMAN COLEMAN, G. BIZSARRI.

